SURVEY SAYS: Time Off for Thanksgiving 2017

Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, “What days off does your employer provide for Thanksgiving and are you asking for more?”

More than half of responding readers (52.2%) said they get Thanksgiving Day and the day after off, while 21.1% get Thanksgiving Day only. Twenty percent reported they leave early the day before and get both Thanksgiving and the day after off, and 4.4% get Thanksgiving, the day before and the day after off. The same percentage 1.1% chose “Leave early the day before and Thanksgiving Day,” and “The whole week.”

Most (55.6%) of respondents have not asked for any more days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Slightly more than 12% have asked for the day before, 6.7% each chose “the day after” and “the day before and after,” and 11.1% have asked for the whole week off. Among the “other” responses, one reader said he/she gets Tuesday through Friday from the company, so he/she asks for Monday. Others said they ask for Tuesday and the day before Thanksgiving or they ask for the following Monday.

In verbatim comments some said working the day after Thanksgiving is productive for them, while one said the opposite. One reader said everyone should get Thanksgiving and the day after. A few readers noted that even though they get the day off, they still work. Some readers explained that their reasons for taking an extra day were not just to have a day of rest or fun, like the reader who said children are out of school the day before. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “I can turn 3 days of PTO into 9 straight days of vacation with Thanksgiving and that Friday off. That’s a value play!”

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey!

Verbatim

Our company has offered both Thanksgiving and the day after as paid holidays since the 1970s. I take additional vacation days that week based on how much cooking I have to do!

A flawed management: puts pressure on workers to come in even on holidays.

It’s very nice having both Thanksgiving Day and the day after off. Who doesn’t like a four day weekend.

I’ll be “on vacation” the day before and after. However, I’ll be working from home at least part of each day. But, the key there is I’ll be working “from home”. Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s amazing to have 4 days off without needing to use time off. It’s like a mini vacation whether we travel or not.

Not a whole lot of work gets done on the Friday after Thanksgiving despite people’s best efforts to “catch up” that day.

I can turn 3 days of PTO into 9 straight days of vacation with Thanksgiving and that Friday off. That’s a value play!

I have previously only had Thanksgiving off (financial world), but now working at a school I have Tuesday-Friday off. It’s like an early Christmas… and I’m very thankful!

Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday. I love having the day after the holiday off as well. It allows for travel time, time to recover from cooking, guests, and cleaning.

Best holiday. No decorating or gift buying, just good eats and get to sleep it off next day!

I think that the Friday after should also be part of the holiday in a law firm.

Everyone should get thanksgiving and the day after- But now we have retail which has EXPLODED Saturday could turn into black Friday and everyone could give Thanks that the early Americans were survivors!

It’s great to have a 3 day work week!

It there is to be a day off after a holiday, it makes more sense to me to have the day after Christmas rather than Thanksgiving.

We had the day after as a paid day off because the building wouldn’t provide air for just our company. Then we were bought by a bank and the day off went away.

My husband is a teacher and gets the whole week off, so I usually take Wednesday as a vacation day to supplement our company holidays of Thanksgiving and the day after.

Black Friday should be a national holiday.

Since I work for a Federal agency, I get Thanksgiving Day as a Federal holiday, but I must use 8 hours of annual leave (vacation time) to take off the day following.

Daycare mirrors the public school holidays, so I also need off the day before.

I really appreciate having a five day break at Thanksgiving. It is really a gift.

Our families are scattered throughout the U.S., so my husband and I typically spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with each other or friends. Very low key!

Day after Thanksgiving was traded for Columbus Day in collective bargaining agreement

The office is open on the day after Thanksgiving, and I hate using a vacation day for it. It’s so quiet and we usually get let go early. It’s not guaranteed though, as is leaving early the day before. Depends on which manager is here!

We usually leave in early afternoon Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday off. Our company also provides two work days off for both Christmas and New Year’s. Most years we end up with two four-day weekends. It’s a nice perk and minimizes the vacation days needed to end up with a long break.

I’m thankful for my days off!

Since the stock market is open, our business must be open as well on the day after Thanksgiving. We do get to close early though!

Even if you are “off”, you are expected to be “on”

I like to travel to be with family on Thanksgiving, so I routinely request vacation for the day before and day after as well as the Monday after.

I think the extra day off really is a great way for employers to get the most out of their employees. Family time is important and so is safe travel – the employers are putting their employees first!

Appreciated.

Our holidays follow the NYSE!

In the past, at a different employer, I’ve had to work the day after Thanksgiving (in a rotation) to cover potential client calls. Not all departments with client contact had the same rule. I was one of only about four people on our floor of close to 100 people who worked that day, and I never received a client call. Most of the clients are probably taking the day off.

Having Thanksgiving and the day after off is a nice mini-break.

If the stock market closed the day after Thanksgiving we would also close.

Thursday plus Friday has been typical at most of my employers. Some were Thursday only, but almost everyone used a vacation day on Friday. Current employer usually allows early dismissal on Wednesday, although I can’t recall if it happens every year.

get a lot of negative employee response to not providing day after thanksgiving off.

I love having the day after Thanksgiving off. I get a lot of shopping done.

I am a contract employee and the employer I am working for has the leave early the day before (Noon or 3pm, not decided yet), Thanksgiving Day and the day after. Since I am contract, the company that I am contract through only does Thanksgiving Day. So I will not be paid for the leave early the day before and the day after, but I still get to have a nice amount of time off. I am also going to be representing the company I am working for in the Thanksgiving Day parade. What an honor!

Sometimes, they do let us go an hour or two early the day before, but that’s not a given. One year, we were all given Apple pies that day!

It’s a generous benefit to have the day-after Thanksgiving off, for which I am thankful. It probably has a benefit to the company also, that the employees return rested rather than tired and late from trying to squeeze in some shopping.

There are so few people who report to work that without the customary distractions, I accomplish a week’s worth of work in a single day! I always work the following Friday –

Although it’s not a written policy, we generally let employees leave early the day before Thanksgiving.

This should be a day off as many families get together.

The day after Thanksgiving is a holiday for us, but since the stock is open that day, we have minimal staff work that day.

Employer is generous with time off. We get Thanksgiving and the day after. For the first time in my career, I work for a company that provides both President’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well. Working in Finance, it is nice to have those two days off in the first quarter of the year.

In Wisconsin a lot of employees have the entire week off. It is gun deer season and many save vacation for that week. 3 days of vacation get you the whole week off.

NOTE: Responses reflect the opinions of individual readers and not necessarily the stance of Strategic Insight or its affiliates.